Marketing Communications Plan: How to get it right?

The global campaign of Snickers (a nutritious bar brand) is based on one line – ‘You are not yourself when you are hungry.’ In their TV ads, posters or any other medium of marketing communications, you will find actress Betty White in the west and Sonam Kapoor on this side of the world. But their marketing communication has remained coherent and unified. Also, it is very successful in terms of business.

So, what are the aspects that should be considered while developing a marketing communications plan for any brand or company? Right from the basic understanding of brand to the expected outcome and impact, everything is a part of a detailed Marketing Communications Plan.

Let’s try to decode the process of developing a Marketing Communications Plan.

What is a Marketing Communications Plan?

Basically, Marketing Communications Plan is like a strategy to communicate the brand or to circulate the idea amongst the target audience. Every brand in any industry whether B2C or B2B needs a strong team that can chart out the best plan to make their brand famous and successful.

It has been said many times that if the product is solid, it sells itself. But how many of us actually believe in it? A quality product or a brand needs a solid marketing communications plan. And for that, certain aspects have to be absolutely clear in the mind of the one making it.

These aspects are

–Who is the Target Audience?

-What are the tools that can be used to communicate a particular brand?

-What are the strengths or weaknesses of the product you are creating this plan for?

Once you get the answer to above questions you can then move on to the next step.

Define the Objective of the Marketing Communications

What do you want your target customers to do? Do you want them to visit your website or call you or do you want them just go in a store and buy the product. The object of what any company or brand is looking to do through its advertising and marketing campaign should be very clear.

Once that is in place, you can start identifying the marketing communications tools (Brochures, posters, TV advertisements, Print advertisements, Social Media, Packaging, websites, videos etc.) that are effective for the brand you are working on.

Important aspects for the Marketing Communications plan:

There are certain aspects of a Marketing Communications plan that cannot be ignored such as:

Clarity in Messages: Your message and idea to promote your brand should be absolutely clear in its approach and it is targeting the right customers.

Being consistent: Whichever media you use, the message through each of them should be consistent. Without consistency, no plan will work.

Maintaining the curiosity factor: Making your customer curious and interested in your brand should be one of the initial goals of your marketing communications strategy.

Analysis of Competitors strategy and case studies: Studying your competitor’s plan thoroughly. Studying plans of other companies that have really worked can give you a solid foundation.

Understanding the Budget: How much can a company afford to pay for its marketing, where they should spend, has to be included in the plan.

The plan will change according to industry but its importance remains the same. Developing a marketing communications plan is as important to a small scale industry as it is to a giant company. It can definitely make or break your image, so all you need to do is to get it right!